Isaac Newton's Law of Social Media

I want to start off by discussing Isaac Newton’s “Three Laws of Motion” but only focus on two in particular (1) Newton’s First Law of Motion & (3) Newton’s Third Law of Motion:

·         First Law of Motion: Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it

·         Third Law of Motion: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction

You might be sitting there wondering where I am going to go with this but stick with me because this is going to get really good as you continue reading.

Do you know the difference between a “good” social marketer and a “great” one?-Motion

First Law of Motion applied to Social Media:

You can’t get anything done unless you are constantly moving.  You can’t gain “Social Momentum” by applying the brakes to your social strategy for one day.  If you’re not building your “Social Momentum”, then who is?

I realize that it’s a very tedious process to really commit to building a “Social Momentum” to where you need it to be to make money.  But until you get external forces interacting with your social strategy to keep it in motion, ie, tweeting about it, Google +1′ing it, etc. you are still at rest with your “Social Momentum” and will remain at rest.

The main idea is to eventually get people talking about your social strategy, sharing your content, and linking back to your articles.  When you can do this, outside forces are interacting with your site to bring it to the motion that it needs to be at.  Until that happens, your social strategy will remain at rest, and the only action that it will get is when you pick it up and run with it.  That is why it’s so important to be able to maintain “Social Momentum” all the times.

Third Law of Motion applied to Social Media:

Newton stated, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.  So does that mean if I share someone’s post it will create an equal reaction from that person?  Well… probably not right away, but it will create opportunities that you will enjoy in the future.  There is one important aspect of social marketing that you can’t forget:

Share other’s articles more than your own

Try these three actions to get an equal and/or opposite reaction:

1. When you share other people’s #SocialSociety consistently you are definitely going to get them to notice you. Getting people to realize that you’re out there is what’s important.
2. When you share others #SocialSociety you create a space for a relationship, discussion, opportunity with that person.  
3. When you share other posts you put other people before you…don’t be selfish but play the kids game of show and tell.  Don’t get me wrong, you want your content shared just as much as you are sharing other people’s, but you have to actually build these relationships before consistent sharing comes your way.  Better put like Jerry McGuire stated, “Help me, Help you”!

What do you plan to do?

I would like to hear your opinion on sharing other people’s #SocialSociety? Does it affect you in any way? I can’t wait to hear about it!

"Social" Spring: Plant your "Social" seeds now

It’s spring time which is an early or flourishing stage of development and it’s around the corner. Nearly every business in the world has considered using social media for their business (or at least been told by someone to do so). It’s an important concept because social media has all of the characteristics of an excellent set of venues for getting out a brand message – popularity, ease, reach, and interactivity. The challenge is that with so many businesses doing it, many ideas start with great intentions and end up falling on deaf (aka nonexistent) ears. 

Why do I bring up spring time?  I like to refer spring and "spring time" as the "#SocialSeason", and also to ideas of rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, resurrection, and regrowth.  It’s a time that a business can create new ideas and take chances again.  Let’s look at 4 ideas how this can be accomplished for your business in the “Spring”:

• “Social Messaging” can take a message and spread it out over time (these can be daily posts, tweets, blogs, etc.)
• “Blogs” can diversify the message and “chop it up” into individual components (this blog is an example because topics are chosen on what readers are looking for)
• “Creativity” plays a monumental role in the social media channels; remember that the competitors are reading this too and taking notes so the key to creativity is diversification
• “Social Channels” are important and require a presence at the least and domination at best to be truly successful

The most common mistake that companies make when trying to create “Social Messaging” is that they simply pick the wrong topic. It may seem impossible; how can the topic be anything other than obvious? The reality is that time and time again businesses focus on the wrong portion of the news because they go after what is most important to them rather than selecting something that will resonate properly through social media to the consumers to make them take action.

“Blogs” make for a lot of work but it can be rewarding if done properly. For example, one might post a full article on their blog, shrink it and link to it from Tumblr, shrink it further for Facebook and Google+, then truly reduce it down to its bare minimums for Twitter and LinkedIn.

“Creativity” is a matter of reach. While hundreds of millions of people are on Facebook, not everyone uses it often. More importantly, the network is designed to be closed based upon preferences, so building a presence through a page or a profile requires reciprocation. If Facebook takes the bulk, the "leftovers" can be found on the other 3 major social networks.

Twitter, LinkedIn, and now Google+ are the other obvious sites that individuals and brands need to be on if they want to be leaders in social media. Many have ignored one or more of these, believing that they can extend their personal or business brand without them. This is a mistake.

People love videos. Whenever the talent and time are available, (“Social Channels”) videos should accompany much of the content that people post if they want to become social media leaders. One does not have to be a strong video personality to utilize videos.

Well we have come to the end and I know that this process isn’t nearly as easy as putting together a “Spring Time” release and pressing it through the proper channels. It’s not designed to be easy, and that’s a good thing. Your efforts will be greater than your competitors’. You results will be greater as well. Put in the effort…it will pay off!

Is your Social Media "Built to Last" or "Built to FAIL"?

Is your Social Media "Built to Last" or "Built to Fail" in your everyday life whether it is work, relationships, or simply your own personal life?  I ask this because one of the two will take place depending on how you approach the way you interact with these outlets daily.

It takes 21 days to effectively develop a routine and make it a habit.  If this is the case that means that it takes daily...I said...daily work to effectively ensure a great response then from Social Media to determine a frame work whether you will chose to make it "Last" or "Fail".

I believe that every Social Media "ANYTHING" needs some sort of a plan and a plan only works when you have 3 essential things:

      Effective Planning:

• Desired outcome with the steps you will take to get there
• Way to measure the effectiveness
• Time frame in which you will achieve this

Companies large and small are rushing to understand and get involved in social media. But most of the agencies and consultants who are being paid to establish social media campaigns for corporations are afraid to tell their clients three things they don’t want to hear.

But more than that, this lack of internal collaboration and contact makes any kind of social media involvement virtually impossible.
A company that hasn’t learned to listen to its own employees, and encourage them to collaborate internally, is not likely to succeed in integrating social media tools into its marketing mix, no matter what agency or consultant they hire.

Follow these 3 simple rules:

• Everybody must work together
• Everybody must be on board
• Don't expect overnight success

Realizing that employing social media in the marketing mix is a long-term commitment to change, the best way to start is to pick manageable, measurable goals.

• Pick a small number of social media goals for the coming year. Some possibilities:Turn the company newsletter into an internal blog and give all employees the ability to contribute
• Establish a social media policy for employee participation in social media on company time and beyond
• Let employees vote on the best ideas suggested by other employees
• Resolve to respond to customer service issues within three hours, via social media

Don’t try to do all of these things at once. Pick the ones that are most likely to be possible for your company to start and sustain.

Is your Social Media "Alive" or "LIVE"?

 I have been around the marketing and advertising block a time or two, and I've seen some changes -- some great and some not-so-great changes. However, with the advent of social media, I have seen a series of trends I find revitalizing, engaging, and highly entertaining.

A new format of advertising is finding a gap within more traditional marketing techniques in our country. It is called LIVE ADERTISING and consists of live performances offered in public spaces to passing by spectators, TV viewers, mobile users, and Social Media enthusiasts. Therefore it is a combination of a spot and real time media.

Live advertising gets the message out there, it entertains and surprises people and it’s a third of the cost or even FREE. These ads are cheaper than traditional print or TV work and can generate as much or more attention. But because their success is dependent on outside forces..aka...USERS, the risks are high if you are not involved as the company because you will lose the attention of your viewers if you are highly involved and interactive but there rewards are IMMEDIATE when your consumers are engaged!

Think about Content Marketing as one example of this. It's being in places when consumers need you, and seek you out with relevant, educational, helpful, compelling, engaging and sometimes entertaining information...Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, "Text Marketing".

Let's review a social platform called Pintrest.  During the recent Super Bowl during the "blackout" allowed LIVE ADVERTISING to kick into gear.  Companies where heavily driving SOCIAL MEDIA awareness but where they prepared for this event...NO....but guess what...the social USERS where.  Take a look at this:

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Reports also suggest that buyers referred from Pinterest are 10% more likely to buy than those who arrive from other social sites, and 70% more likely than those from websites.

With all this said here is my recommendation:

1. Today’s opportunity market is to target the mobile/tablet buyers. Throw out the old playbook. You must integrate time, location, rich media and social interaction. 
2. Tie in social, but more than just the ‘Like’ button. Have features integrate in a deeper manner.
3. The future of marketing is sophisticated lifestyle and workstyle content.  Some marketers will become profit centers beyond profit centers.

Social Me-di-ahhh it's so early

Your alarm goes off and it's 4:00 a.m. (most likely your cell phone and not a real alarm clock) and what is the first thing that you do?  If you are like me, you are most likely crazy for waking up at 4:00 a.m., however, I have an hour and a half commute to work each way because of the traffic in our Metropolitan area.  But "YES" you guessed it...I check my Social Media updates. Who has the latest "Tweet", who did what on "Facebook", who read my "Blog", who LinkedIn me, and who gave me a +1 on Google+.

I’m able to think clearly first thing in the morning. After a long day at work paired with an evening networking event or dinner plans, I come home EXHAUSTED, both physically and mentally. Often, the stresses of the day weigh on me and I’m in no place to write (or even go to the gym and run). But in the morning, after a solid night’s sleep, my mind is clear.

Half of social media users are so involved with Facebook and Twitter that they check the sites first thing in the morning — 16% say this is how they get their morning “news”.

iPhone owners use Facebook and Twitter more often and in more places: 28% of iPhone owners visit Twitter or Facebook before getting out of bed in the morning, compared with just 18% of all social media consumers under age 25 and 8% of those age 25+. Similarly, 26% of iPhone owners check in with Twitter or Facebook before turning on the TV, compared with 17% each of all social media consumers.

So what does this mean to marketers?

Any time you share content to a social network, whether its an update, a picture, or a link to your recent blog entry, that post is occurring on a specific day of the week and time of day. What you may not have realized is that each social network has peaks and valleys in usage. Ideally, your post would go out during a peak usage time, enabling you to achieve the maximum amount of exposure for your update.

Not only do we want to look at what times are getting the most users on the more popular social networks, we also want to look at the times that have the least usage, and avoid wasting time trying to be active during those periods.

Follow these simple rules and you will be fine:

Facebook

-The best time to post is from 1pm to 4pm, and the worst time is between 8pm and 8am.

-Traffic builds after 9am, and the peak time is Wednesday at 3pm. Traffic fades after 4pm and avoid posting on weekends.

Twitter

-The best time to post is from 1pm to 3pm, and the worst time is between 8pm and 9am.

-Traffic builds after 11am, and the peak time is Monday through Thursday. Traffic fades after 3pm and avoid posting after 3pm on Friday.

LinkedIn

-The best time to post is from 7am to 9am or 5pm to 6pm, and the worst time is between 10pm and 6am.

-Traffic builds before and after business hours, and the peak times are Tuesday through Thursday. -Traffic fades during 9am to 12pm and 1pm to 5pm, and avoid posting on Mondays and Fridays.

Google+

-The best time to post is from 9am to 11am, and the worst time is between 6pm and 8am.

-Traffic builds after 9am, and the peak time is during work hours. Traffic fades after 5pm and avoid posting in the evening.

Pinterest

-The best time to post is from 2pm to 4pm or 8pm to 1am, and the worst time is between 5pm and 7pm.

-Traffic builds after 12pm, and the peak time is Saturday morning. Traffic fades after 5pm and avoid posting in the late afternoon.

Good luck and let me know what works best for you!

Social Media "Hedgehog"

“Hedgehog” concept, doing one thing and doing it well. In the book Good to Great, by Jim Collins, he uses the parable of the clever, devious fox and the simple hedgehog. The fox keeps coming up with new ideas to eat the hedgehog, but the hedgehog handily defeats him by doing his one trick: rolling into a thorny ball.

The concept requires the intersection of three answers:
1. What are you passionate about?
2. What can you be the best at?
3. What can actually make you a living?

And the answer must meet all three criteria.

“Passion” has become one of those buzzwords in the online world. Your blog must express the passion out of your heart and then out of the hearts of your readers. Your tweets must be borne out of passion in simple characters. Your Facebook status updates…well, you get the idea.

“Best”! There are three things a small business needs to think about when venturing into social media for the first time: Your personnel, targeting the right audience, a social platform. Approach these in the right order for maximum affect. Without the right socially engaged people on your staff, it doesn’t really matter where you plan on "playing" or what your website says. The engagement and return won't be there.

Living or $Money$ Social media and social networking websites can be very beneficial to its users. Social media is not only providing its users opportunities to stay connected with rest of the world, but it is also helping them making money. Yes – People are making money out of social networking websites. You just need to know how to do so. It requires some time and effort but it is definitely worth it.

So let me ask you this…Can you apply Jim Collins “Hedgehog” concept into your business with a Social Media twist?  Are you already doing this?  Do you know where to start?

Discipline x Social Media = $ Growth $

Question: How much time do I need to invest every day to ensure I am found organically? How much time do I need to invest to ensure I am capturing the right business? How much time do I need to spend to make money of my Social Media campaigns?

Answer: Discipline

How many hours do small business owners or employees dedicate to various social media activities, from finding and sharing content to blogging? What tasks take the most time, and what platforms are small businesses most active on. How much is your marketing and social media budgets, and how much money is spent on tools to manage and analyze social media efforts?

Let's break it down:

-SMB's spend more time daily on attempting to figure out Social Media and struggle.
-SMB's spend the majority of time on Facebook and Twitter but are forgetting the other outlets.
-SMB's realize the value of content but can't afford time and DISCIPLINE.
-SMB's find value in paying companies to manage this for them but who do they choose?

Here’s the big deep dark secret about using social media for business; you’ve got to have discipline.
People tell me numerous times a day that they can’t make time for social media. I agree it’s hard, but when you look at how much time it takes to cold-call a customer, visit their office, buy them lunch, walk their dog and take out their trash to get their business it’s nothing.

You don’t have to be on every social media network in the universe. Keep your networks limited to what is truly useful. If a network just doesn’t work for you just move on. Maybe the crowd you want isn’t there or maybe you just hate the interface. Don’t worry, there are plenty more where that came from. I tell clients to pick one network you like. Learn it, study it, and let your followers tell you where the next network you need to use is. Go where the potential is not where the social media gurus tell you you “gotta be”.

With all this said let me ask you this, "Do you know what you are doing, if not, do you know who to go to that you can trust and get the answers"?  If that answer is NO, then post a comment and I will point you in the right direction.